New York GIS will map city's underground

New York City's Environmental Protection Department is mapping city sewers with ArcView 8.2 from ESRI of Redlands, Calif.

Under a three-year, $10 million contract, Baker Engineering NY Inc. of Elmsford, N.Y., will help build the new sewer layer for the city's existing geographic information system, NYCMap, which uses an Oracle8i database.

Baker Engineering and subcontractors will scan sewer drawings and maps into digital format, said Kevin McCabe, the department's project manager. Once the work is complete, users can pick a street and call up digital maps of the sewers below. The GIS also will integrate information about 20,000 manholes in the city and its boroughs.

Hunter College's Center for the Analysis and Research of Spatial Information, directed by geography professor Sean Ahearn, will provide quality assurance for the project, McCabe said.